James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. I want to take this moment to thank all of you. I appreciate all of you who have taken a moment to share a funny thought, an encouraging word, a philosophical musing, or an expert insight.

Thanks too to all of you who have given your time and talent to the weekly Art By Committee contest. And thanks for linking or putting me on your blogroll. I wish I could link back to each of you, but my sidebar is already way out of control.

I am a firm believer in the value of self-teaching. Whether or not each of us has been to art school, we never get to a point where we know enough. Learning about art is a lifelong occupation.

Right now the history of art is at a remarkable crossroads, with a convergence of knowledge between digital effects innovation, vision research, a new realism in painting, and an outpouring of creativity in caricature, cartooning, and animation. As a result of all this cross-pollinaton, there’s a lot we can learn from each other, and I've been learning a lot from you by doing this blog.

I hope you’ll visit Gurney Journey from time to time over the future months. There are dozens of new topics lined up for future posts, with material on everything from reflected light to rainbows, silhouettes to spotlighting, interactivity to idealization—plus a few bizarre surprises along the way.

This is by far the best blog that I have found and the only one that I read everyday because of the diversity of your posts. The creative process is difficult to explain but your blog does it very well, congratulations.

Master Gurney! You drew that sketch the year I was born :)Thank you so much for sharing everything you've picked up along the way - I hope there is some learning for you as well and the feedback from & interaction with your readers keeps you energized and you can feel every day how beautifully "art stuff" unites people!

Never stop!!

(BTW.: Besides the obviously fantastic content, something I really like is the length of the articles - just perfect!)

I've been a daily reader since last fall . . . you have been a great inspiration to me, so much so that I have returned to painting. I learn something new from you every time you post. Thanks so much for your dedication to sharing your craft! :)

Congratulations! And thank you! I've been a regular reader the last month and a half or so, and I find your thoughts and insights very interesting. I read Dinotopia when I was a child, and it was one of the first times I actually marveled at the art for the art's sake, not just because of the oh-man-dinosaurs!-factor. So it was really amazing to find your blog and read about the behind the scenes of your art.

This autumn I'm going to study in Atelier Stockholm, the Swedish academy of realist art. I think that between the schoold and contact with artists like you over the internet, the next few years are going to be very exciting indeed for me!

I would also like to take this opportunity to invite you to the art community conceptart.org, where you will meet professionals from the whole world.

Happy Blogday Jim! Agree with all above posters, this is the only blog i check frequently (a few times a day at least) not only for your own amazing paintings and tips, but for the sheer diversity of topics and technical knowledge you so generously give us. Before I go out painting I always refer to this site, and when I come back I check in to see how you or some other artist you posted have done it. A never ending source of inspiration you are sir! Sincerely thank you.Tim

And I join my voice to the chorus, many many thanks for postig all this amazing information!you have a way of explaining things that's so much livelier than books. You share your passion with us without ever being pedantic.I will keep this blog in my RSS feed for a long time still, until you grow tired of posting !

The school's is a mouthful, but I'm a proud pupil of it. Although, we often "self-teach" through the help of so many others! I have learned so much here!!!

I agree that art history is at a crossroads. I especially love the genre of comics, and I sincerely believe that right now this art form is experiencing a renaissance. There is a flood of great material of all kinds of comics right now: historical, instructional, personal, etc.

Congratulations and thanks for your generous sharing. That we're all learning from one another is an amazing gift technology has given us, but the generosity, such as yours, which makes possible this sharing is the reason it all works.

On the contrary, thank you! I've learned more from your blog than I have from any art classes I've taken, and all without throwing away a dime - and for that I am profoundly grateful. Thank you, again, for all the effort you put into this.

I love this blog! I've learned more from it than any of the painting classes I ever took in art school. You should write a book...(as well as a blog.) Thanks for a year of learning and here's to many more!

Happy birthday. If you don't know this book it's my birthday present to you; The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air (Dover Books on Earth Sciences) by M. Minnaert (Paperback - Jun 1, 1954) written when Minnaert was a prisoner of the Nazis and deprived of access to his astronomical telescope.

There are a lot of nice sites and blogs out there which can impress, but how many can also conjure up a sense of wonder and better yet, a unique sense of discovery? It's that sense of discovery that puts this blog on a higher plane. I don't think I've honestly ever taken a peek in here and not learn something new ("Oh yeah, that makes sense, vertical edges would look a little softer than horizontal ones due to the placement of our eyes...amazing thought!"). Plus, I finally got to read The Technigue of Oil Paintings after you posted that great quote! Congratulations Jim, and keep on with this voyage!

Happy blogiversary, Mr. Gurney! Sincerest thanks for the many insights into your working methods plus regular peeks at some very inspiring art over the past year. I've learned a lot and look forward to more of the same.

There's not much I can add that hasn't been said. This blog is great. It's at the top of my favorites list and the first blog I check after my reading my e-mail. I recommend it to every one I know who has an interest in art. Thank you for your insights, inspiration and encouragement.

I first found out about the blog, how? I believe on Charley Parker's Lines and Colors, and I've been a daily visitor since. Very educational and thought provoking. Plus, I love dinosaurs!Congratulations James and Thanks!

Thank you so much for a wonderful year of blogging! I have enjoyed the art lessons as well as the truly new ideas like Art By Committee. I don't know how you do it but I'm glad you do. Your posts are a highlight of my day. Between the Rabbit Trails and your wonderful sense of humor, I don't know how I got along with out this blog.

I’m speechless. You are all so kind. Yes, let’s keep doing this blogging thing. Sometimes the Internet seems so vast and impersonal, but as Dianne and others have said, the technology provides an amazing Petrie dish for ideas to flourish.

Cegebe, by self-teaching I meant what Andy said, that each of us is picking up knowledge from all around us and sharing it freely with each other on this blog.

The Minnaert book that Richard mentioned and the Hamilton Field book were references that I knew nothing about until I learned about them from you all.

Happy Anniversary James - I'll give it a mention in my 'who's made a mark this week' post on Sunday and hopefully send you a few more new fans! :)

As somebody who not only believes in and subscribes to the value of continuous learning but also actively promotes the value of sharing, I'm very happy to recommend your blog to those who want to develop their skills in drawing, composition and appreciation of art generally.